


Not Your Standard Birthday

by jenorama



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Birthday, F/M, HarryandGinnyDiscordBirthdayChallenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25682467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenorama/pseuds/jenorama
Summary: Harry spends a day shadowing Ginny at St Mungo's in preparation for an assignment.  An unforeseen event alters his birthday plans.  Written for the 2020 Harry and Ginny Discord Birthday Challenge!
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	Not Your Standard Birthday

“40, huh?” Teddy said, looking at Harry over his beer glass.They were in the Church Key pub, waiting for Archimedes who’d promised them a toast with Pappy van Winkle.

Harry rolled his eyes at his godson and sipped his Guinness.“It’s just another number,” he said.

“Did you hear Ginny saying that this is her last birthday?She said she’s going to be 39 forever.” 

“You’ll get your turn before you know it.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong.I’m going to stop at 25 and unlike you, I can look 25 forever.”Teddy grinned and waved.“There’s Archimedes.Now for some of that Pappy.”

Archimedes slid into the booth next to Harry and clapped him on the shoulder.“Happy birthday, Harry.”He raised his hand, waving down a passing barmaid.“Let’s have three shots of Pappy’s.We’ve got a birthday tonight.”

The barmaid raised her eyebrows and nodded appreciatively, returning a few minutes later with the three shot glasses brimming with the golden elixir along with a pint of Guinness for Archimedes.

Teddy stared down at the shot of whiskey in front of him, holding up his hand as Harry and Archimedes raised theirs.“Hold on.I want to savor this moment.I don’t know when I’ll ever have a hundred dollars in glass in front of me again.”After several long moments, he picked up his shot glass and took a healthy sniff of the whiskey, wrinkling his nose.

“Are you quite ready?” Harry asked, amused by Teddy’s antics. 

“Yes.Happy birthday, Harry.”Teddy and Archimedes raised their glasses to Harry in a salute, making him uncomfortably aware of other patrons looking their way.He quickly downed his shot of very expensive whiskey and turned his glass upside down on the table with a thump, savoring the burn of the strong alcohol all the way down his throat and into his stomach.

“Thank you, thank you,” Harry said, nodding at his companions.He sat back against the bench seat, the whiskey lighting a pleasant fire in his belly.He nodded at Teddy’s empty glass.“So?What did you think?”

Teddy pursed his lips, looking like he was giving the question serious consideration.“It was pretty good, but I think I like the Scottish whiskies better.They have more … body.”

“Paugh, body.How old are you now?22?You don’t know anything yet,” Archimedes snorted.“Come back to that when you’ve had more experience.”He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.“In fact, I’ll promise you another one of those for your twenty-fifth.”

“I can already tell 25 is going to be my favorite birthday.”Teddy winked at Archimedes and took a long drink of his beer.Smacking his lips in satisfaction, he set the glass back down, fixing Harry with an interested expression.“What about you, Harry?”

“What about me what?”

“What was your favorite birthday?”

Surprised at the question, Harry frowned as he thought.“You know, I never really thought about it before.”He took another swallow of Guinness, letting the buzz of conversation in the pub wash over him.Heat flooded his face as he recalled one birthday in particular …

***

“You need me to do what?” Ginny asked, her spoon of pudding halfway to her mouth.

“I need you to teach me how to be a Healer,” Harry said, grinning at Ginny’s surprise.

Ginny seemed to finally realize that she was in the process of eating her dessert and finally took the hovering bite.“What in the world for?” she asked after she swallowed.

“I need to go undercover for a little while.” 

“Where?For how long?” Ginny asked.Harry just shrugged in return.“Fine.Be mysterious, then.Why me?”

“Because you’re the best, that’s why.”Satisfied at Ginny’s agreement, he dug into his slice of treacle tart. 

“Eight o’clock sharp tomorrow, all right?I don’t want to dock your pay on your first day for tardiness.”

“Ooh, a real task master.”

Ginny raised an eyebrow, her expression giving Harry a delightful shiver.“You’d better believe it.”

The next morning, Harry arrived at St Mungo’s, rather proud that he stepped through the doors five minutes before 8 am.Unsurprisingly, Ginny was waiting for him, looking quite crisp and formidable in her Healer’s robes.“All right, Trainee Potter.Follow me and I’ll show you where to get changed,” she said.

“I can’t just wear this?” he asked, sweeping his hand down over his all-black Auror ensemble.

Ginny wrinkled her nose.“Of course not.You come with me on my rounds dressed like that and you’ll have patients thinking the Angel of Death has come to see them.Besides, you need to know how to look the part.”She spun around and headed off, her robes flaring around her.

Harry followed, wondering where she was getting this energy.She’d insisted on giving him his birthday gift early last night, treating him to a night of dizzying pleasure that he wasn’t sure he was fully recovered from yet.She stopped at a doorway, pointing to the sign that said “Wizard’s Changing Room”.As he passed, he saw her cover a yawn out of the corner of his eye.

In the changing room, he found a locker with his name on it and took off his heavy Auror clothes, quickly pulling on the lighter, looser Healer’s robes.He noticed his were a grayish color rather than the crisp green and white that Ginny wore.A moment later, he exited the changing room and spread his arms for Ginny’s inspection.

“Very good, Healer trainee … what am I to call you?”

“James Pringle,” Harry said promptly, clicking his heels together.

“Good to meet you, Healer trainee Pringle.What are you going to do about …” she asked, motioning to her face.

“Ah, well, how’s this?”Harry raised his wand, changing his eyes to brown and lightening his hair several shades.

“Can you keep that going while fetching for me?”

“We’ll see, won’t we?”

Ginny snorted and hit him in the stomach with her clipboard.“All right, Pringle.Look at that list and tell me who we’re seeing first.”

Harry took the clipboard and looked down at the parchment.“Erm, right.Looks like Edna Maysberry.Heebie-jeebies?”

“Ooh, yes.She had a bad case, but she’s recovering quite well.Let’s see how your bedside manner is.” 

The hours that followed were some of the busiest of Harry’s life and he couldn’t help but admire Ginny’s energy as she gave each patient her full attention.At the afflicted Edna Maysberry’s bedside, he watched as Ginny listened patiently to the woman’s complaints about the food and the constant poking and prodding as she checked her vitals, making notes on the chart kept at the bottom of her bed.

“You’re doing very well, Mrs Maysberry.I think we’ll be able to have you back home today.Now, I have Healer trainee Pringle with me here today and I’d like him to get your blood pressure.Will that be all right?” Ginny motioned to Harry standing in the corner of the room.

Mrs Maysberry’s eyes lit up at the sight of him, her wrinkled old face creasing even more as she smiled.“Oh, it’s quite all right,” she said, stretching a skinny arm out from underneath the blanket. 

Harry took her cool hand in his and smiled down at her, hoping that he didn’t look too nervous as he placed the tip of his wand against the patient’s upper arm, quietly murmuring the spell Ginny had taught him last night.A few seconds later, glowing numbers hovered in the air.“100 over 72,” he said, hearing the scratches as Ginny recorded the information.

“You’ve got a very nice touch, Healer trainee Pringle,” Mrs Maysberry said, giving him a wide smile.

“Erm, thanks.”Unsure of what else to do, Harry let go of her hand and set it down, giving her a pat.

“All right.I think you’ll be able to go home after lunch.Do you need someone to send an owl for you?” Ginny asked, setting the clipboard with Mrs Maysberry’s information back in the slot at the foot of the bed.

“No, my dear.My Thomas should be here soon.Thank you.”They bid their goodbyes and moved on to the next patient, a Mr Molesly who was recovering from a bad spate of ghost foot. 

Once more, Harry was introduced as Healer Trainee Pringle and asked to perform some minor procedure.This carried through the rounds he followed Ginny on and before he knew it, it was time for lunch.

“So, have I been appropriately charming?” he asked when they sat down at a table in the canteen with their lunch trays.

“I think so.Every one has remarked on your bedside manner.”Ginny took a sip of her tea and raised an eyebrow.“I had no idea that you could be so nice.”

Harry leaned forward, fixing her with a look.“I was nice enough to you last night, wasn’t I?”

“At least twice,” Ginny said, a pink flush spreading across her cheeks.“Anyway, this afternoon we’ll have a bit of a potions session.”

Harry sprinkled malt vinegar over his chips.“Yeah?What are we mixing up?A little of liquid luck?”

“Not quite.I’ve got an older gent that’s having some temporal instability.”

“That sounds rather nerve-wracking.”

“It is.He usually reappears in his room around 2 pm.I’ve been dosing him withanti-time potion and I’ve nearly run out.”She looked at him over her mug.“It’s tricky.Are you up to the task?”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

***

“All right, Pringle, I’ll need you to fetch me the following,” Ginny said, giving Harry an impressive list of components.“You’ll find them right on through there.” 

“You know, I said I wanted you to teach me how to behave like a Healer.”

“You’re the one that called me a real task master.I’m just trying to live up to your expectations.”Ginny grinned at him, giving him a shooing motion to send him on his way. 

Harry headed down the hallway from the potions room, opening the door of the supply room.It was quite impressive; much larger than the one at Auror headquarters which he thought was only fair for a wizarding hospital.He looked at the list, amazed that the potion had that many components. 

He looked at the shelves and started pulling things down. _Should be able to get all of this in one go._ His arms full of vials, boxes and packets, he reached up for the last thing on the list, a powder called _Destinaum._ “Oh, no, no, no!Shit!” Harry groaned as he lost his grip on it and watched as the box tumbled to the floor, exploding open and sending pink powder all over the room.

“Harry are you all—oh no!”Harry turned in time to see Ginny close the door of the storeroom tight, shutting him in with the pink haze.

Eyes watering, Harry stumbled to the door, pawing at the handle.“Gin, it’s locked!” he called, banging on the door with his fist.

Her anxious face appeared in the window.“You can’t come out!That’s _Destinaum_ powder you’ve got all over you.It’s very volatile and we can’t have it all over hospital!”

Coughing, Harry’s heart started beating very fast.“Volatile?What’s it going to do?Is there an antidote?”

“Only time.It’ll decay in about 24 hours and then we can let you out.”

“What?Are you kidding me?It’s my birthday!”Surrounded by swirling pink powder, Harry stamped his foot in frustration.“I’m meeting Ron and the boys for drinks tonight!”

“Not anymore!”Another face appeared in the window, an older woman with a neat gray bun and a frown.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from Ginny in the hallway outside to Harry in the storeroom.

“Healer Trainee Pringle has had an accident with the _Destinaum_ powder,” Ginny said, pushing a lock of her red hair behind her ear.She no longer looked like the competent, experienced Healer, but rather a frazzled, worried friend. 

“Do I need to sound an alarm?”

“No, Healer Trainee Pringle will stay in the storeroom until it decays, won’t you?” Ginny gave him a pointed look and Harry groaned, stepping back towards the large table in the storeroom.A fine pink powder covered it and he sneezed, nearly dropping the boxes, packets and vials he still held. 

Apparently satisfied, the other woman left, leaving Ginny alone in the window.“I’m really sorry, Harry, but it’s just too dangerous for you to leave that room and come out into hospital.”

“Can’t I Apparate home and shower?”Harry tried to wipe the powder off of his sleeve, only to end up with more of it on his hand.Waving his hand didn’t help, either; the powder stuck to him like glue.

“No!You have to stay where the air is in equilibrium with the powder!Too much oxygen and you’ll be sent back in time about a hundred years!”

“You’ve got to be joking!”Harry put his hands over his face, covering it more pink powder.“How could this day get any worse?”

“Hey!” Ginny barked, her face full of consternation.“You’re the one that asked me for help, all right?”

“Sorry, sorry … it’s just … this was not what I had planned for tonight, yeah?”

“I know.I’m sorry, too.”Ginny sighed and shook her head.“Look, I’ve got to get on with the rest of my day, all right?You can still do magic in there, so you can make yourself comfortable.I’ll get something to drink sent in for you.”

“Yeah, get on with your day.I’m not going anywhere.Can I send my patronus?” Harry asked.He used his wand to move the table to the side, making room for the armchair he conjured a moment later.He folded himself into the chair and flicked his wand again, his silvery stag exploding out of the tip.“Go to Ron.Tell him I won’t be able to make it tonight.”

***

“Oh, mate, you’re fucked,” Ron said through the window in the door.“You know you have to stay in there for 24 hours, yeah?”

“Yes, I’ve been informed of my 24 hour quarantine, thanks.Can you let the other guys know?” 

“Yeah, of course.”Ron eyed the door.“So if I open this, you’ll be zapped back in time?”

“According to Gin, yeah.”

“Well, that’s one way to be rid of you.”

“Yeah, but I’ll also be rid of you.”Harry made a rude gesture at his best friend and fell back against the chair he’d conjured earlier.“God, what a shit birthday.”

“It really is.”Ron bobbed up and down in the window, clearly bouncing on the balls of his feet.“We’ll go out tomorrow night, yeah?”

“Yeah.It’s just a day like any other.Tell Jackson I’m stuck for tomorrow and I won’t be in.”Harry glared at Ron.“Don’t tell anyone else what happened, all right?”

Ron pasted an innocent look on his face.“Yeah, of course!” he said and Harry knew that everyone in the department would know about this incident within minutes of Ron’s return.“Can I get you anything?”

“Can you get me a pint of Guinness?” Harry asked, almost able to taste the rich stout.

“I can try.”Ron eyed the door dubiously and nodded to himself.“I need to get back, yeah?”

Harry waved a pink powder-coated hand at him.“Yeah.See you tomorrow, I guess.”Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the armchair, resigned to spending his birthday alone in this room.“Well, at least last night was a good one.”

***

Ron had come through and managed to find a way to get him the asked-for Guinness by shrinking down a six pack and pushing it through the gap at the bottom of the door.Harry tried not to feel cheated that Ron had kept one for himself, but he supposed he couldn’t be too upset since he did get a birthday toast out of it. _If only it was in a pub and not through a window._

He’d spent the rest of the evening in varying degrees of boredom, drinking his Guinness and watching the pink dust float in the air.He’d tried to bring some of it down with his wand, but it didn’t seem to respond at all. _What will happen when it decays or whatever it’s going to do?_

His boredom was occasionally alleviated by Ginny looking in to check on him as she continued her day.A few others had come by, presumably to get something out of the storeroom, only to gape at him and then the sign warning about the incident.Harry had made sure to keep his disguise going; the last thing he needed was word getting out that Auror Harry Potter had bungled getting potion supplies and gotten himself stuck in the St Mungo’s storeroom on his birthday.

The chime on his watch sounded, helpfully letting him know that it was now seven o’clock and it was time to gather with his friends at the Leaky Cauldron.“Thanks,” he said as he silenced the alarm.“Good thing I can count on you.”At the reminder of the time, his stomach grumbled and he began to wonder about food. 

“Hiya!” Ginny called from the window, bringing him out of his reverie.Harry looked up and grinned at the food-laden tray she held.“I thought you ought to have something other than alcohol.Ron means well, but he doesn’t always think some things through.”

“Bless you.”Harry stood up, grabbing onto the armchair as a wave of dizziness passed through him.“Well, at least I was still able to get drunk on my birthday.”He crouched down and picked up the shrunken tray Ginny had passed under the door.He expanded it on the storeroom table, pleased to see a generous helping of chips, a meat pie, a pile of veg and even a small chocolate cake.

“The cake is for last,” Ginny said, wagging her finger at him.

Eager to tuck in, Harry sat in his conjured armchair, balancing the tray on his lap.“What if I believe in eating the best things first?”

“Such a child, Potter.”Ginny clapped her hands together and crossed her arms.“So, what did you learn today?”

“Well, I’ve learned how to say, Hello, Mr X, how are you feeling today?Still got the tingles?Here, let’s get your blood pressure,” he said through a bite of meat pie, grinning when Ginny’s mouth fell open.

“I do more than that!”

“Oh, I forgot the part about nodding and humming in sympathy.” 

“Well, if you hadn’t bunged it up with the _Destinaum_ powder, you would have seen a lot more.Mornings are just rounds and checking up on patients.”She narrowed her eyes at him.“Besides, I bet if I shadowed you for a day, I’ll I’d learn is how to avoid paperwork.”

Harry laughed and took a healthy swallow of his next to last bottle of Guinness.“Avoiding paperwork is the biggest part of being an Auror, you know.”

“I’ve heard.”Ginny’s smile faded and she looked pensive.“This Healer thing.Where are you going?Is it dangerous?”

“You know I can’t say.”

“I know.I just wish—well, it doesn’t matter what I wish.”She pushed her long red hair behind her ears.“Is there anything else I can get you right now?”

“No, this is great, Gin.Thanks.”He ate a few chips, conscious of her watching him.“You, uh, you don’t have to stay here.I have no interest in involuntary time travel, so I’ll stay put until tomorrow.”

“Well, I feel like this is partially my fault.I should have warned you or given you a basket or something.”

Harry didn’t like to see Ginny blaming herself for his own stupid mistake and he shook his head.“Nah, it’s my own fault I’m in here.”He finished his chips and started on the veg. 

“Well, I don’t have anything exciting going on tonight anyway, so I might as well stay here and keep an eye on you.”

Harry set aside the tray and stood up, walking towards the window.“You could Apparate in here with me.I’m sure we could come up with something to while away the hours,” he said, his breath fogging up the glass.

A slow smile spread across Ginny’s face and her cheeks turned pink.“No, I’d bring air in with me and then you’d time travel and I’d be stuck all alone until tomorrow and feeling even guiltier.”She took one step closer to the window and lowered her voice so that Harry could barely hear it.“Check back with me tomorrow once you’ve had a wash.”

A shiver went through Harry’s gut and he returned her smile.“Now I have something to look forward to.”

Ginny cleared her throat and tapped the glass with her fingernail.“Well, we’re not there yet.”She nodded to the tray on the table.“You’ve still got your birthday cake.Shall I sing to you?”

“Can I have a candle?”

“Mm, better not.The flame will consume some air and that would be bad.”Her face brightened as she had a thought.“I’ll still sing to you, though!”

“Perfect.”Harry picked up the small cake on its plate and carried it to the window, holding it up for her to see.

Ginny closed her eyes for a moment and reopened them, looking at him with an expression that gave him that swooping, falling sensation in his stomach.“Happy birthday to you …”


End file.
